Fort Hood Memorial
On November 10, 2005, a memorial to the 761st Tank Battallion was dedicated at Ft. Hood, Texas. The 761st, the first African-American armored unit to engage in combat in World War II, was formed in 1942 and trained against Tank Destroyer Forces at Fort Hood beginning in September 1943. Photos provided by Ivan Harrison, Jr., are in an album in the Gallery. 
The memorial includes four monoliths, each with information on both sides about the history of the 761st. The information on the monoliths includes a map showing their path through Europe, Ruben Rivers's picture and citation, the awards earned, major combat engagements, the troop composition, a list of units the 761st supported, the Presidential Unit Citation and one with a wreath near the top listing the names of those that died during combat. The stone supporting the statue of the kneeling tanker with the binoculars in his hand has an image on each of its four sides. The monoliths were made in Killeen, the block supporting the statue was made in Waco, Texas, and the statue was made in Italy of stone from the same quarry that Michelangelo used for his statues.
